Rebney was introduced in an advisory capacity for the
newly formed Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association (MMAAA) on
Wednesday, and he often took the lead on a conference call when it
came to explaining the long-term plan of the association. The MMAAA
is seeking better pay and benefits for past and present UFC
fighters and will be headed by a five-man board of Georges St.
Pierre, Donald
Cerrone, Tim Kennedy,
Cain
Velasquez and T.J.
Dillashaw.

While Rebney will not have a say in the final decision-making
process, Lawal warned the group against aligning themselves with
the former Bellator MMA CEO in a post on his Instagram account.

“U got 5 great fighters standin by 1 big dick rider on the far
left,” Lawal wrote. “These boys are about to get finessed f—-in’
wit him. People learn the hard way tho.”

That very public animosity dates back to Bellator MMA’s lone
pay-per-view offering on May 17 2014, when “King Mo” had some
choice words for the then promotion CEO.

“I came out here to beat [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ Jackson and stop all
the dick riding Bjorn be doing,” Lawal said in a pre-fight
interview that night before his headlining bout against
Jackson.

The interview with Bellator MMA announcer Jimmy Smith
was cut off there due to dubious claims of technical issues, but
Lawal didn’t stop there, as he continued to express his distaste
for Rebney following a controversial split-decision loss to
Jackson.

“Bjorn, you know what’s up, man,” he said. “You know you didn’t win
that fight, all smiling and s---. ‘Rampage,’ nothing against you. I
beat you, though. You know it, and your corner knows it. I won that
fight; and Bjorn, cut me if you don’t like me. You know I won that
fight.”

Prior to Wednesday, Rebney had been quiet since Bellator parted
ways with him and hired Scott Coker as organization president in
June 2014. As Lawal mentioned, his reputation was not necessarily
the most pristine during his tenure with the promotion. Rebney
briefly addressed those concerns during the call.

“I think the easiest way for me to respond without going into a
great deal of depth is that the most successful year I ever had as
a promoter I paid the athletes that fought for me 53 percent of our
revenues,” Rebney said. “So if the UFC and Ari Emanuel and WME-IMG
would like to step up and equal 53 percent, I’m pretty confident
that we’ll be able to get this thing settled within a matter of
weeks.” Rebney also insisted that he has no plans to get back into
the MMA promotion business.

“This is my focus,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for over
two years...MMA has been pretty good to me. It’s not often you get
an opportunity to step up and do something that’s right. I’m gonna
be in this as long as these guys that sit on this sport want me to
be in this.”

For now, much of how the MMAAA will work and what it will do
remains a mystery — and that, according to Rebney, is largely by
design to avoid giving the UFC and WME-IMG any insight into its
plans. Still, Lawal believes the association could have chosen a
better parnter than Rebney.

“Its not about me and him not gettin along. Its about his
crookedness....u wouldn't kno cuz u are a fan thats lookin in from
the outside,” Lawal wrote in a response to his initial post. “Do
your research. Rob Maysey and the MMAFA been workin on a Union for
fighters since 2011. Its positive.....tell me how?? U want
positive....get Randy
Couture to lead it. He went to war with the ufc.

“Imagine if fighters needed bank accounts.....then Don King came
and said I will open up bank accounts for all fighters,” he
continued. “I will help u and lead the way.....would u do it????
Ask Tyson, Holmes, Orlen Norris, Trinidad, and Mayorga for their
advice after they dealt with Don King. This is a similar
situation.”